Carl Muehlenbeck, Sr.

Muehlenbeck, Sr., Carl Galesburg, Michigan Carl Jon Muehlenbeck, Sr. passed away December 14, 2021, in Kalamazoo, Michigan at the age of 80. He was born April 13, 1941, in Saginaw, Michigan to Elmer and Ethel Muehlenbeck who preceded him in death. He is survived by his wife, Janice Muehlenbeck of Galesburg Michigan, children Ann Marie Willbanks of Mesa, Arizona, Carl Jon Muehlenbeck Jr. of Michie, Tennessee, Karin Campos of Buckingham, Virginia and Kirsten Kunz of Spartanburg, South Carolina and twelve grandchildren: Alexander, Sara, Elisabeth, Alexandra, Mary, Jackson, Hannah, Maximilian, Isabella, and Marco, Ingrid and Soren and two great -grandchildren, Freya and Rowan. Carl graduated from Saginaw High School in 1959 and enlisted in the Marine Corps. He performed so well that he was transferred to the Mustang program and was a commissioned 2nd Lieutenant by 1962. He married Janice Mary Miska of Saginaw in July of 1962 and they began life together in California. He trained as a pilot and began flying C130 Hercules transport planes in and out of Vietnam until 1965. He has stories of the hardships of that war, and he and his plane being grounded in the middle of a firefight that lasted all night long. Back stateside, Carl attended Central Michigan University in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan and then joined the US Coast Guard where he continued flying the C130, but this time search and rescue over the Gulf of Mexico, and then over the Atlantic out of Elizabeth City, North Carolina. He flew Ice Patrol in the North Atlantic, tracking icebergs and landing an enormous four-prop plane in white-out conditions in crosswinds. After he retired from active duty, he trained young pilots for more than 20 years, first as a sea survival instructor for Navy pilots and then as a ground school instructor for Airbus. He had an exciting life filled with adventure, international travel, danger, ocean rescues, violent storms, and the lasting reward of saving countless lives of "those in peril on the sea". He said once that "ships don't sink in fair weather", so he was intimately familiar with the fury of storms as he and his team took off on short runways for long flights over the open ocean, looking for shipwreck survivors through rain and thunder, snow and wind. His retirement was spent in peace in a quiet cabin in the woods of southern Michigan. Storms didn't bother him anymore. In retirement he was finally warm and safe and comfortable, knowing that the men and women he trained would carry on the mission of America's first responder, the United States Coast Guard. Semper Paratus. Friends may visit with his family on Friday March 18, 2022, from 12:00-1:00 PM at Langeland Family Funeral & Cremation Services, 622 S. Burdick Street, Kalamazoo, where a memorial service will be held at 1:00 PM, led by his family. A graveside service with military honors will be held following at 2:30 PM at Fort Custer National Cemetery, Augusta, Michigan. Please visit Carl's personalized online guestbook at https://www.langelands.com